January 2016 Newsletter

Get the latest newsletter on PDF by clicking the image above.

(If you don’t have Acrobat Reader installed, you can download it here.)

NEXT MEETING: JANUARY 4, 2016

WHAT TO BRING TO THE MEETING

• Name tag
• Block party block
• Show-and-Tell
• Program items
• Door Prizes for M

BIRTHDAYS

• Jane Lamb … January 16
• Carrie Stanford … January 25

PRESIDENT’S CORNER

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Once upon a time these words were associated with the new year’s resolution to lose weight and exercise more. Somewhere over time I became comfortable with my new shape and larger numbers on the scale so my resolution has changed due to my hobby, past-time, therapy sessions, escape for the stresses of life, love affair of fabric and sewing. Today, my new year’s resolution is to buy less fabric and finish more UFOs before starting a new project. There are however a few ground rules to be established. When the Dallas Quilt Show comes to town in March, all bets are off where purchasing fabric is concerned. Now, about those UFOs…..let’s clarify. Is this simply fabric that has been cut and only partially completed? If I pre-cut fabric and bagged it together to sew at a later date, does this count as a UFO or a new quilt kit? What about the ongoing struggle to climb that ever increasing pile of scraps? If I continue to make crazy blocks to become a quilt later does this count as new or an old project? I guess, ultimately, it comes down to enjoying the project you’re working on , be it old or new. Happy Sewing!

Tory Swartzwelder

DUES ARE DUE!

Dues for 2016 are due at the January meeting.  Dues are $20 for regular members and $15 for members age 65 and older.  Remember that if you have perfect attendance for the year your name will be entered into a drawing for a free Guild membership for the next year.  Congratulations to Jeri for winning the perfect attendance award for 2015.  She will get her membership to the Guild free for 2016.

JANUARY PROGRAM

The program for January will consist of guest speaker Donna Reid. She is a member of the Irving Quilt Guild and has been kind enough to come and speak to us about the Angel Quilt Program she is charge of. She will also have a small “Trunk Show” to show off some quilt tops and completed quilts for the Angel Quilt program to accompany her talk.

Also, I will also be introducing “Operation Shoe Box.” More information will be introduced at the end of this meeting. Stay tuned!

*Note: Thank you very much for allowing me the opportunity to plan our programs. I am really looking forward to this coming year as I have already been hammering out some ideas that hopefully everyone will enjoy! Also, if you have any program ideas you would like to see happen, please let me know. Remember, if you want to see something, learn something or listen to speakers, I don’t know unless you allow me the opportunity to address with you. Also, I will be keeping our schoolhouse program in the fall. If you wish to participate please let me know. I look forward to this next year!

Carrie Stanford

NEWSLETTER CHALLENGE

Thanks to those people who submitted items during the last year for the newsletter challenge. The people that participated will have their names in a drawing at the November meeting for a prize. Participants were Grace, Sue, Jane, Barbara B, Katrina, Shirley and Janice O.

Michelle Rodriguez

TAQG REPORT

The January meeting of TAQG will be held on Saturday, January 30th at 10 a.m. the Mineola League of the Arts, 200 West Blair, Mineola. There will be secondary meetings for presidents, secretaries, and treasurers. Anyone currently serving in one of those positions or interested in learning more about the responsibilities of the jobs is welcome to attend. After the meeting you can check out the quilt shops and restaurants in the area.

Please let Katrina Lindley (krazykat1952@gmail.com) know if you are interested in volunteering in the TAQG booth at the Dallas Quilt Show on March 11-13. If you volunteer for a couple of hours, you can get into the show free.

Looking ahead, Rally Day will be Saturday, July 9th in Mesquite. The speaker will be Kimberly Einmo who publishes patterns with jelly rolls and other precuts. (http://www.kimberlyeinmo.com/). Remember we are on the Rally Day committee this year, so plan now to volunteer.

Katrina Lindley, TAQG Representative

MYSTERY QUILT

FEBRUARY 6, 2016 • 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
First Presbyterian Church of Grand Prairie
Fabric requirements:

• Lap (57×57):
• 1/2 layer cake
• 1 1/2 yards background fabric1/2 yard (A) and 1/4 yard (B) contrasting fabrics (that match with the layer cake)
• 1 1/4 yard outer border
• 1/2 yard binding

• Twin (57×85): 
• 1/2 layer cake
• 1 yard background fabric
• 1/2 yard (A) and 1/2 yard (B) contrasting fabrics (that match with the layer cake)
• 1 1/2 yard outer border
• 3/4 yard binding

• Full (71×85):
• 1 layer cake
• 1 yard background fabric
• 1/2 yard (A) and 1/2 yard (B) contrasting fabrics (that match with the layer cake)
• 1 1/2 yard outer border
• 3/4 yard binding

• Queen (85×99):
• 1 layer cake
• 2 1/4 yards background fabric
• 3/4 yard (A) and 3/4 yard (B) contrasting fabrics (that match with the layer cake)
• 1 3/4 yard outer border
• 3/4 yard binding

• King (99×99):
• 1 layer cake
• 3 yards background fabric
• 1 yard (A) and 3/4 yard (B) contrasting fabrics (that match with the layer cake)
• 2 1/4 yard outer border
• 1 yard binding

*You can do scrappy instead of a layer cake, but make sure that the fabrics are contrasting.
*Fabrics A and B are contrasting to each other, but they need to match the colors of the layer cake.
Lauren Metang

Lauren Metang

MINUTES

• Sue called the meeting to order at 7 p.m. and welcomed everyone. Jane gave the blessing for our Christmas dinner tonight.
• After the meal, Sue thanked everyone for all their help and support for the last 2 years. She also announced we have two birthdays for December…Michelle and Shirley, both on December 15th. She also stated if anyone did not get their birthday fat-quarter for 2015, please do so tonight.
• Remembrances…Jane had spoken with Carol Franklin and she is still in a lot of pain from her back surgery and is missing getting to come to our meetings. Hopefully she will be back soon. Christine gave us an update on Charlie…he now weighs 8 lbs., 8 oz. and is doing well. Michelle reported that the English Street Quilter, Liza will be on a sabbatical until September and will not be accepting any work. When she is ready to quilt again she will place her ad in the newsletter. Both Jane and Sue’s daughters had surgery and are doing well. Lauren’s husband, Patrick has a promising job opportunity coming up on January 4th. Evelyn will soon be getting her Associates Degree.
• The minutes from last month’s meeting were approved as written in the newsletter. The Executive Board held a meeting prior to tonight’s regular meeting, with Margaret filling in for Debi. Sue reminded everyone that our membership money to TAQG is now due. Jane made the motion, seconded by Grace that we continue our membership and to submit our dues before January 1st. This was approved as brought forth from the committee.
• Barbara B. reported we had no disbursements or additions for the month of November, so our bank balance remains at $1,288.58.
• Shirley reported we had 23 members present at tonight. Eleven ladies had perfect attendance for 2015….Lauren, Sue, Barbara B., Janice O., Carrie, Grace, Tory, Jeri, Michelle, Shirley and Jane. Jeri won the free membership for 2016.
• Michelle reminded all the new officers of the newsletter deadline of the 10th of each month for articles to be submitted.
• Tory announced we had 13 block-of-the-month blocks for December and were won by Janis Hill. Christine will be in charge of the B-O-M for next year and has chosen the theme of “Civil War” blocks. Each month she will have a colored picture of the finished 8 ½ inch block, instructions on making the block and additional information on the history of each block. She asked that we use “Civil War” fabric or as close to the original colors as possible.
• Katrina announced the next TAQG meeting will be on Saturday, January 30th in Mineola. Presidents, secretaries & treasurers are encouraged to attend. If you are interested in going, please contact her. She also reminded everyone the Dallas Quilt Show will be held on March 11th thru 13th. They need volunteers from our guild to help with the TAQG Booth and you will get in free for helping. Rally Day for 2016 is Saturday, July 9th and the guest speaker will be Kimberly Einmo who will also hold workshops using Jelly Rolls.
• No old business.
• New Business…Janice O. made the motion, seconded by Nancy C., for the guild to donate $275.00 to the Presbyterian Church in appreciation for letting us to have a place to hold our meetings. Motion passed.
• Evelyn spoke for the group in thanking Michelle and Paco for all they do for the guild….newsletter, pictures, Facebook, etc.
• Workshops…Lauren stated she is planning a mystery quilt workshop using a layer cake sometime at the beginning of the year…..date is pending…Details later.
• Show and Tell….Katrina, Evelyn, Tory, Michelle and Sue all had items to show.
• Stitch-a-bit…Grace reported the group will not meet in December, so the next meeting will be January 28th. The group meets the 4th Thursday of the month from 9:30 until about 3:30 and she invited everyone to come and join in the good fellowship time. She also informed the group of Sue and Jane’s project for last year at the Woods Methodist Church…They made each veteran of the church a patriotic quilt. Each veteran was so very appreciative and Grace suggested that our guild might want to plan a project this next year for the guild to do more veteran quilts…Red, White and Blue. She also thanked everyone for the support the past 2 years, especially Jeri and Jane, her assistants.
• Janice Overton held a short program to install the incoming officers for next year…..Janis Hill as Treasurer….takes care of the guild’s money….received a lottery ticket-$$$$. Lauren as Second Vice-President – Workshops…sometimes things do not always go as planned….received lemons and a glass mug to make lemonade. Carrie as First Vice-President-Programs….will be planning programs…received a card with the one positive word she will probably be using a lot next year…..ABSOLUTELY. Tory as President…will be making lots of decisions…received a coin to help…heads – yes, tails – no. Sue, as immediate past President…received a “Thank You” from the guild for her service and leadership and also a bag of marbles in case she had misplaced some during the last two years. She also received all the star quilt blocks we members made for her with our names on them. Debi will serve as Secretary again next year but was unable to attend tonight‘s meeting.
  We then held our gift exchange and everyone explained the gifts they gave using the initial of our last name. Some were obvious but some required some thinking on…..Good fun.
• Meeting adjourned.

Margaret Alsupfor Debi Cypert

BLOCK OF THE MONTH

Couple things: I encourage everyone to shop for Civil War fabric, Evelyn Moore will be bringing some to the January meeting so you can see an example or you may purchase. Also, there are several shops that carry it including Peggy’s Quilt Studio in Pantego & Common Threads Quilting in Waxahachie to name 2 of them. I would suggest getting 10-12 fat quarters to choose from for the Blocks of the each month. Please stick to the color scheme that you see each month on the example, the blue can be light or dark for example, but it should be blue. We will be drawing each month for a winner of the blocks. The finished blocks are 8.5″ squared. Any questions, contact Christine at blntn606@sbcglobal.net or 214-284-4906.

Christine Blanton

For Directions, visit this site: civilwarquilts.blogspot.com

TREASURER’S REPORT

Beginning balance … $1,288.58
Deposits
None … 0.00
Disbursements:
TAQG Dues … 25.00
First Presbyterian Church of Grand Prairie … 275.00
Total Disbursements … 300.00
Ending Balance … $988.58

Barbara Burnaugh

REMINDERS

• Articles for the newsletter are due by the 10th of the month. Any articles not received by the 10th of the month may or may not get published in that month’s newsletter.
• The newsletter is published monthly usually within 10 days of the meeting date (first Monday of each month). You will receive an email with a link to the website. The website is: https://qgogp.wordpress.com . All previous newsletters are archived on our website. You may also go to our Facebook page. Our newsletter link is posted there monthly. If, at any time, you cannot find your newsletter or have deleted the email with the link, you could do an internet search for “quilter’s guild of grand prairie” to find our website.
• If you have a question about a program, a workshop, or the block of the month, be sure to contact the person(s) in charge of whatever you have a question about. The names, phone numbers and emails are all listed in the newsletter.
• If you are using our Guild directory to set up an email list for yourself, please be courteous and don’t take advantage of our group’s email addresses being made public.
• Please silence your cell phone during our meetings.
• Please note, effective with the January 4, 2016 meeting, the doors to the church will not be opened until 6:30 p.m.

Michelle Rodriguez